Hot Rods Hydraulic brakes

I'm looking to put hydraulic brakes on the rear of my Model A. Can any one tell me of a good donor? Will 40 Ford backing plates and brakes work?

 

What's on the front?

 

Yes. Might need to rotate a little for line to housing clearance, and might need to shave a touch off the edge of the backing plate and drum if they fit too close together.

 

If you are going to use modern tube shocks, you can eliminate having to rotate the backing plate and all the fuss that goes with that by simply cutting off the stock shock ball. Other than that thing being in the way, they bolt right on. Rotating them tilts the wheel cylinder, making it hard to bleed the air out. Bubbles float to the high spot, you know. The bleeder screw depends on the cylinder being level with the bleeder being at the top. To rotate, you need to elongate or re-drill the bolt holes. Nothing I would want to do. The drums are likely to rub on the backing plates, Rather than grinding the rim of the drum, I use axle shims to move the drum out a little. Some folks poo-poo the use of shims, but that's what they're for. Getting used drums that are turned beyond safe limits and/or ****py keyways is very, very hard. When I do this setup, I use new MT hubs and drums. These drums slide right on, making it easier to work on later. A little tip: try to find '46 - '48 backing plates with self centering, non adjustable anchor pins. Saves a lot of headaches when trying to get the shoes centered with the older style. If you want to retain the stock Model A shocks, you can get new weld on mounts and move the mounts to one side with a modified shock arm. Be sure you tighten the axle nuts to the extreme and check them after putting some miles on.

 

The correct traditional shim for the axles was to cut up a beer can. I think they were thicker in the 50's so you might need two of them if using current beer cans

 

Any shim will prevent you getting a solid lock between axle and hub.

I recently pulled apart a rear axle and found one of those shims smushed, twisted, and wrapped around the axle about a third of the way in the housing. Whoever installed it didn’t realize it didn’t stay on the taper, and it must have pushed through the inner seal and been riding around the axle for years.

 

Alchemy, You are wrong about that. Shims were a Ford part, meant to do exactly what the man needs and was stated to use them in old Ford service manuals.. It was used and worked fine until the end of the closed driveline production. The reason people have trouble with them is careless and improper installation. You must be very careful installing the hub so as to not knock the shim back. Twisting and other types of damage are not the fault of the shim, but not tightening the axle nut properly. I have been using axle shims for a very long time and have never had one single problem with them. As for cutting up beer cans and other things to make them, it's just nuts. The things cost very little and are readily available from vendors of old Ford parts. The same formed to fit shims fit all Ford cars from '28 - 48. One shim will usually do the trick.
Edit: The same shims work on Model T axles, too.